Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T13:47:19.578Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 10 - Medico-legal consequences of parasomnias

from Section 1 - Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2010

By
Irshaad O. Ebrahim  and
Colin M. Shapiro
Edited by
Michael J. Thorpy  and
Giuseppe Plazzi
Michael J. Thorpy
Affiliation:
Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA
Giuseppe Plazzi
Affiliation:
Università di Bologna
Get access

Summary

The parasomnias most frequently associated with forensic consequences are the disorders of arousal (confusional arousals, sleepwalking/sleep terrors) and their variant sexsomnia, parasomnia due to drug or substance and REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD). There are numerous historical cases documenting sleep-related crimes dating back to the seventeenth century. The insanity defense and automatism remain relevant to criminal liability today, but the Model Penal Code (MPC) definitions still rely on ideas that have not kept up to date with developments in neuroscience. It is important that experts providing evidence for apparent sleep-related forensic cases be acutely aware of and follow guidelines laid down by their respective professional and regulatory bodies in their particular jurisdictions. The assessment of a person accused of a violent act that may have arisen from sleep requires a systematic and thorough evaluation of all possible diagnoses.

Keywords

arousal parasomniasconfusional arousalsnightmare disordersleep terrorssleep enuresisrecurrent isolated sleep paralysisnon-rapid eye movement sleeprapid eye movement sleepsleep-related hallucinationssleepwalking
Type
Chapter
Information
The Parasomnias and Other Sleep-Related Movement Disorders , pp. 81 - 96
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×